Yesterday, four new feature tour videos cropped up on the Samsung Mobile USA channel on YouTube, showcasing the handset’s full HD Super AMOLED screen, the selective camera focus feature, its ultra-power saving mode and the bundled S Health app. Unlike some of the conglomerate’s previous promotional videos, these clips do a good job explaining how the four aforementioned features enhance experience for the user.

However, Samsung being Samsung meant the firm couldn’t resist comparing its flagship to Apple’s iPhone 5s in terms of the display size, image quality and pixel count. I’ve included that clip, along with the remaining three videos, after the jump…

The 37-second video below, entitled ‘Full HD Display’, makes the case for the handset’s 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display by mentioning that it has “62 percent more screen size than the iPhone 5s,” so your viewing experience is “at a whole new level.”

Indeed, at full HD resolution of 1,920-by-1,080 pixels, the Galaxy S5 has 2.85 times more pixels for apps and content than the iPhone 5s’s 640-by-1,136 pixel Retina screen.

It’s interesting that Samsung felt compelled to highlight its screen size advantage at this particular point in time, when Apple is rumored to be bringing to market new iPhones with 4.7 and 5.5-inch screens later this year, the latter rumored to incorporate full HD resolution.

Next up, a video that focuses on the stock S Health app that taps the handset’s built-in pedometer and heart rate sensor – a first in a smartphone – to provide basic overview of a user’s heart rates, steps taken and more, in one central repository.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ghtwFKxjJk

Apple’s upcoming iOS 8 is rumored to be bringing out a new app called Healthbook, described as the Passbook for health and fitness related data. It’s thought to collate data retrieved from both the iPhone 6’s many sensors and third-party accessories while acting as a central data store for fitness and health data for third-party apps.

The software tracks your ticker by using the iPhone camera’s flash to detect the pulse from afingertip placed on the camera lens, leveraging similar technique as used in pulse oximeters.

The following video, entitled ‘Focus Features’, explains how Galaxy S5 users can choose their focus and depth of field even after the picture is taken, using the Phase Detection Auto Focus technology typically found in DSLR cameras.

And here’s the final clip outlining the handset’s ultra power saving mode.

“We’ve all been there: that moment when you need your phone but the battery is about to run out,” the video says before explaining a software feature that adjusts the screen to use grayscale and limits the phone’s performance to maximize battery life.

Samsung claims that even with just ten percent juice left, Ultra Power Saving Mode will still allow users to place phone calls and text others for an impressive 24 hours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA4QCjs1s4w

Just the other day, I was thinking this is exactly the kind of feature that I’d like to see implemented on the iPhone. For the sake of completeness, iOS does perform certain optimizations when your juice level reaches 20 percent and more after it falls below ten percent.

For example, you may have noticed that your iPhone slows down when the battery is critical because iOS drops the clock rate of the iPhone’s processor in order to conserve power. But in a typical Apple fashion, this feature is on auto-pilot and has no user-facing interface so we don’t really know which power-saving tricks Apple employs.

I’d like to see a section in iOS Settings that would allow me to tell iOS when the power saving mode should kick in and what features should get automatically disabled when the battery reaches user-defined thresholds.

For example, dim the display and throttle the CPU when the battery falls to 20 percent, switch to grayscale display and disable Background App Refresh and Location Services when it hits the 10 percent mark and so forth.

Anyways, I want to know how you feel about Samsung’s videos so chime in with your thoughts down in the comments and, please – keep the conversation civil and on topic.

Anyone with a camera and LED flash has a heart monitor too, I think Apple did that on purpose lol

Litchy

Oh Apple did that on purpose for sure 😀 It’s just funny how Samsung acts like the heart rate monitor is something incredible new and Apple is just like “meh… we got an app for that” Haha 😀

Tom

They forgot to show that with every update phone lags as hell.
cough”S3”cough

@dongiuj

Cough, not true in my case, cough, but, cough, is the case for my iPhone 4 and 5, cough.

Andrew

S3 was released in 2012. Same as the iP5. The 4 was released in 2010… Same as the Galaxy S. Yet it’s still supported in the latest firmware.

@dongiuj

And?

Andrew

And? Are you kidding me? The S3 is as old as the iP5 which is as smooth as butter in iOS 7. And the S is as old as the iP4 which is supported in the latest firmware. Is the Galaxy S supported in the latest firmware? How about the S2 which is as old as the iP4s which not only it is supported in the latest firmware but it’s doing well.

@dongiuj

So that means my iPhone 5 doesn’t have any lag and not as you say “smooth as butter”?

Dean Johnson

After watching these videos and reading this article I realized that Samsung IS obsessed over Apple

@dongiuj

You could say the same thing about the fangirls of both companies. Both are obsessed with the other company like the childish girlies they are.

Cameron Chao

You seem to be obsessed with defending samsung like a childish girl. Ironic?

@dongiuj

You need to read all my comments. THEN you will understand how so wrong you are. Can you read? Did I hurt your feelings, pumpkin?

diggitydang

The only feature I wish the iPhone had was the waterproof thing… other than that, I’m not sold on the other features.

I love how the S5 camera in the “Focus Features” video takes a pic and then (at the 0:12 mark), you see “Processing” up for what feels like a couple seconds… hahahaha…

Rowan09

If it’s not like the Experia which is waterproof instead of water resistant, it’s no big deal to me.

diggitydang

It can last a meter deep for 30 minutes. That’s pretty good. I’m not going deep sea diving… I accidentally walked into my pool with my iPhone 5 in my pocket last year and barely touched the surface of the water. Camera stopped working a day later. Good thing Apple replaced it for me which is fine by me! Love Apple’s service…

Fabio Rodrigues

that is one BIG differential, I deal with broken phones the whole, and when customer comes with a broken apple I tell them to check with apple and if they do nothing or offer something too expensive (change the whole phone cause the battery is bad for U$200) to come here and I do the service for them, most costumers come back happy with a new and it is good for me, but with samsung, I already several phones to them, and almost all the time they send it back saying “your phone is beyond repair” even when the phone still under warranty, I sent two phone that had a bad sim card reader and they said it was beyond repair and didn’t even offered anything like a discount for a new phone, I changed the sim card reader (parts+installation = about $35) and boom! phone was working again, samsung repair service is horrible, apple might charge you or give you a new phone, at least they give you options, samsung don’t 🙁

diggitydang

My dad had a similar experience with a Samsung screen malfunction that was obviously a manufacturer’s defect. They did nothing and kept him on hold for hours (probably hoping he would hang up)… Thanks for sharing your experiences, especially from someone who fixes phones.

I’ve always had good experiences with Apple’s customer service – I also had an iPad replaced once, which was entirely my fault (son threw it) and I was up front with them, and expected to pay for a replacement… they just replaced it for free for me!!!!

Fabio Rodrigues

as I said, apple sometimes replaces stuff for free or gives you an option that you have to pay, but with samsung… the next big thing is “NO” , also, I am sorry for the missing words in my previous post, sometimes I only realize that after is too late 😛

BozzyB

I don’t think other single lens phones can do it faster in selective focus mode… Processing time is always needed.

diggitydang

You might be right but it’s a little intrusive and seems to take longer than I would expect it to. It just seems a little unpolished, but I guess the aim for Samsung was to get it out quick.

BozzyB

Could be but their camera app was always very quick and functional. You can also see it when you take normal fotos. It’s very fast. This mode just needs processing time. Same thing on the Nexus Camera: In selective focus mode it needs some seconds to process the picture information. So I guess it’s normal.

diggitydang

I would’ve appreciated something more than a “Processing” label though – maybe actually seeing the frame slowly blur or a simple animation – something that doesn’t just imply “just sit there and wait, you impatient fool!”… hahahaha. Anyway, you sound like an Android-guy and it’s nice to finally trade comments back and forth with someone on that side, where it’s factual and doesn’t turn into a spitting in each other’s face… hahahaha!!

jack

S-health = garbage. They speak as if measuring your BPM is a “health measurement”. I’m slim, I have no pains whatsoever, and I make no exercise 🙂
Power saving mode = very nice.
Slow photo shoot to get selective focus = meh.

romeodesigns

Total rush job and trying to put out ideas that were stolen from apple. I’m well aware that apple does the same, but they at least implement it properly.

Kash Gummaraju

Stolen? What was “stolen” other than the fingerprint sensor?

BozzyB

The iphone wasn’t the first phone with fingerprint sensor. And it is not even the same sensor. You have to wipe your finger over it which sucks.

jack

again this “apple wasn’t the first” argument. Apple is always the first to do things RIGHT

Just like Apple maps, Antenna gate, Battery gate, Scuff gate, and now Lightning gate…they sure did those right…iDiot.

Fabio Rodrigues

the U$120M Samsung is going to pay apple might show you what they stole from apple 🙂

@dongiuj

How, exactly, do you know anything was stolen?

romeodesigns

This has been the pattern of aoe and samsung since the beginning. Apple is introducing a heartrate monitor, iwatch, health book and all around healthy lifestyle, and if you watched the ad that Samsung posted; which was in this article, then you’d see the obvious similarities. This is no attack on you whatsoever, I’m just stating facts, not opinion.

@dongiuj

And how do you know that samsung or any other company didn’t think of all of the above first? Sorry, you just seem to be so sure of what you’re saying, it’s as if you have some actually documents proving what say. Can you tell us about the things that apple have planned in the next 2-3 years from now that no other company has thought of yet? If you do then my question will have been answered. And no attack felt. I couldn’t care less about any company, it’s just the fangirls that seem to ruin things with comments of what they believe theirselves but don’t actually have any 100% proof of what they are so positively sure about.

romeodesigns

I wouldn’t consider myself a fan girl or fanboy; as people say on this site. The items I’ve spoken about can be read about on this website. There’s been rumours of the iwatch(uncertain of the real name) which will be in production, then there’s the bigger screens for the IP6, IDB had spoken about the health book app as well, then the rumours of the TV set. I’m not making products up, I just read the posted blogs and place the pieces of the puzzle together, especially since the stock split was written about. That alone let’s me know that apple has huge plans this summer when products are released, because of the confidence of this company.

@dongiuj

I’m not saying that you’re making up the products. Anyone that reads apple fan blogs can repeat the information. But what I’m saying is, how do you know that samsung or any other company didn’t think of any of the products/designs that you mentioned before apple. You have no real proof of this. Just what iDB copy and pasted from another site. You say they were stolen from apple. How do you know this for sure? Because iDB said so?

romeodesigns

I understand. I don’t have any proof of who thought of, or who created these ideas first.

Fabio Rodrigues

“Patents”?

Gerry Alvarado

I would not mind a water resistant iphone. You’re not supposed to open the sealed back of the iphone anyways. You can be super careful with your iphone but someone else might knock it into water or into the sink or whatever.

Rowan09

I would like it to be waterproof but you’ll have to allow some trade-offs with a waterproof phone and looks is one of them.

Mark Thmas

I’m sorry did she say, “first ever” built in HR sensor??? Hmm, interesting..

Tommy Gumbs

Did Samsung pay you to write this article? Is this Samsung news or Apple news? Just saying…..now excise me while I take a selfie with my iP5S.

i think that their trying to give us everything that there is not just the apple side of things… nice job idb

Tommy Gumbs

Naw, they just don’t have anything else to write about.

coLin

I like the Ultra Power Saving Mode

Aniket Bhatt

I like the fact that it is water resistant, not as cool as sony but whatever
I also like the power saving mode (not to mention the power killing mode which is the rest of the phone)

I don’t think selective focus is very cool, because
A. it seems like a software thing that wouldnt require powerful hardware
B. there are apps that can provide the effect all over the place
C. the only real benefit is that its faster than those apps, also it might not work as well as in the demos shown by Samsung, because software can always detect edges

I like that you can preview HDR photos before taking them, its a great tool for everyday users who dont fully understand HDR

Heart rate sensor= useless (because of apps)
S health= at first seems useless but I might actually start looking at my health if it was there.

Large screen = i don’t think anything needs to be above 5 inches, and does 1080p really matter? since you can’t discern pixels at 720p anyway? Also sometimes devs arent very good with optimizing apps for a large screen, they just scale them up…so unless ur watching video or drawing

All the other stuff from the s4 and s3… not a fan

Kash Gummaraju

Actually you can discern pixels above 720p, all that retina bs that Steve Jobs fed everyone was as I stated complete BS, cultofmac themselves wrote on article how the whole Retina display wasn’t made by testing the capabilties of young adults, but by a slightly older portion of the 30+ year olds

Aniket Bhatt

Theoretically you can discern it..if we are comparing a 5 inch 720 and a 5 inch 1080 yes you can easily discern. But if we are comparing 4 inch 720 to 5 inch 1080…i highly doubt anyone is holding their phone that close to their face…once again not saying retina is supreme…just saying pixel density beyond retina isnt a selling point to me

Kash Gummaraju

No you can discern the difference regardless of screen size. That is the most baseless argument yet. Either way an iPhone is not 720p, in fact it’s closer to 480p. A 332ppi vs 441+ppi will end with the 441+ppi on top due to clarity, sharpness, accuracy, and overall more pleasant viewing experience.

Aniket Bhatt

I mean ive spent alot of time with the S4 and the LG G2, and the pixels dont seem much different. I mean I think you need to have above average vision to discern past 326ppi (iPhone resolution 1136×640 so closer to 720 actually) since Retina obviously isnt based on true Retina resolution…rather its based 20/20 vision…so unless you have 20/20 vison (or higher) you wont be able to discern pixels…however yes the experience would probably be better due to larger screen (therefore larger resolution)…but as I said before Its not a selling point to me. Since their purpose here is to have 1080p res yes the screen size matters…because if they had a 4inch 1080p no one would care…catch my drift?

Kash Gummaraju

People nowadays think that more megapixels means a better camera, although that isnt the case. The average consumer will flock to a S5 and then show their 16mp camera to their friends who have phone with 13mp or lower. It’s a big marketing point. But you will notice the difference. Comparing my HTC One(m7-currently the highest ppi in a 1080p phone with 469 ppi) and my iPhone 5S(326 ppi) The colors on the One are more vibrant, images are sharper and more crisper, there’s more overall clarity, and the images are more accurate. Compare a 720p 13inch laptop to a 1080p 15inch laptop. The difference is huge. Compare the 1080p 15incher to a 15inch Retina MBpro or the almost 4k 14inch Razer Blade. The you can argue all you want that you can’t tell the difference, but the fact remains the same, you can tell the difference. The whole resolution race isn’t about being able to reduce visible pixels, which as of now there are no more visible pixels in the newer modern products of today, it’s about bring the resolution of what the human eye can see to our devices so that they also show us reality.

The whole healthy fad is just plain boring and ridiculous for a cell phone most iPhone and galaxy owners use their phone for fun, for apps, for pictures there is a small percentage of health nuts that would need all this bloatware